The Tunisia men's national handball team (), nicknamed Eagles of Carthage, is the national handball team of Tunisia. It is controlled by the Tunisian Handball Federation (THF) and takes part in international handball competitions. The Tunisian Handball League was created in 1953. In 1957, the Tunisian Handball Federation was founded and then admitted to the International Handball Federation in 1962.
The Tunisian national team participates in several world championships. In 2005 World Championship, Tunisia finished fourth, becoming the second non-European team to reach the semi-finals of the world championship after Egypt, which reached the semi-finals in 2001. The Tunisian team won the African Championship for a record ten titles (1974, 1976, 1979, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2018. Egypt and Algeria are Tunisia's main rivals on the African continent. Following the 2026 African Championship, Egypt tied Tunisia's record of ten continental titles.
The national team is mainly and generally composed of players from Espérance Sportive de Tunis, Club Africain and Étoile Sportive du Sahel, these teams being the traditional locomotives of the national handball scene, as well as players playing in Europe, mainly in France.
History Tunisia is the most successful team in the African Nations Championship with ten titles won in 1974, 1976, 1979, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2018, and played in the final eight times in 1985, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2016 and 2020. They also won a bronze medal six times in 1981, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2000.
At the World Championships, in 2005 it obtained the best performance obtained by an African country, a fourth place, thus equaling Egypt (place obtained in 2001). During the 2005–06 season, Heykel Megannem was voted the best player in the French championship, with Wissem Hmam and Issam Tej also being in the standard team, respectively as left-back and pivot.
Following the 2009 world championship, the federation sidelined Issam Tej for "indiscipline, insolence and recidivism" and Makram Missaoui for "having refused to resume play against Poland", while Maher Kraiem was suspended for three months for “misconduct”. The team is coached by the Croatian Sead Hasanefendić until June 2008, before being replaced by the Serb Zoran Živković from 24 October 2008. However, the federation dismisses him following the poor performance of the team during the 2009 world championship. He was replaced by the Tunisian Sayed Ayari and then, in June 2009, by the Frenchman Alain Portes, who signed a three-year contract.
In 2013, Alain Portes' contract was not being renewed, so he took over from Olivier Krumbholz at the head of the French women's team and was replaced by Sead Hasanefendić, back at the head of the national team for the following three seasons. In 2020, coach Toni Gerona was dismissed.
Infrastructure The El Menzah Sports Palace, built in 1967, is the hall of the national team. Built for the 2005 World Men's Handball Championship, of which it hosted the final and all of Tunisia's matches, the Salle Omnisport de Radès now hosted most of the national team's matches.
Honours Official competitions African Nations Championship Champions (10) : 1974, 1976, 1979, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2018 Runners-up: 1985, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2026 Third Place: 1981, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2000, 2024
African Games Runners-up: 1978 Third Place: 1965, 2007
Mediterranean Games Runners-up: 2001, 2018 Third Place: 1967, 1979, 2005, 2009
Pan Arab Games Champions: 1985 Third Place: 1992, 2011
Minor tournaments World cup Runners-up: 2006
Yellow Cup Champions: 2007, 2015, 2016, 2019 Runners-up: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2020 Third Place: 2008, 2010
Paris Ile-de-France tournament Champions: 2005 Third Place: 1998, 2002, 2007, 2013 Championnat maghrébin des nations Champions : 1969, 1971, 1973
Tunisia international tournament Champions: 2015, 2017, 2021
Four Nations Cup Poland Champions: 2021, 2022 Three Nations Cup Tunisia Champions: 2023 Challenge Marrane Champions: 2008 Four Nations Tournament Runners-up: 2015
Air Caraïbes Cup Runners-up: 2019 Spain international tournament Third Place: 1999, 2002, 2012
Competitive record Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Olympic Games Olympic GamesGamesRoundPosition 1936Part of FranceNot held from 1948 to 1968 1972Match for 15th place16th500572118 −46 1976Withdrawn after two games 1980Did not qualify 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000Match for 9th place10th6105130141 −11 2004Did not qualify 2008 2012Quarter-finals8th6204144150 −6 2016Group stage12th5014118145 −27 2020Did not qualify 2024Total4/150 Titles223118464554−90
World Championship World ChampionshipsGamesRoundPosition 1938Part of France 1954 1958Did not enter 1961 1964 1967Group stage15th 3 0 0 32366 −43 1970Did not enter 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1993 1995Round of 1615th 7 2 0 5160183 −23 1997Round of 1616th 6 2 0 4106128 −22 1999Round of 1612th 6 2 1 3133142 −9 2001Round of 1610th 6 3 0 3140136 +4 2003Second round14th 7 2 0 5178186 −8 2005Fourth place4th 10 5 3 2311252 +59 2007Main round11th 8 3 0 52372370 2009Group stage17th 9 5 0 4264250 +14 2011Group stage20th 7 1 0 6168193 −25 2013Round of 1611th 6 3 0 3146153 −7 2015Round of 1615th 6 2 1 3152161 −9 2017Group stage19th 7 2 2 3209202 +7 2019Main round12th 8 3 0 5205238 −33 2021Presidents Cup25th 7 4 1 2209182 +27 2023Presidents Cup25th 7 4 1 2208196 +12 2025Main round22nd 6 1 0 5143189 −46 2027Qualified 2029To be determined 2031TotalFourth place18/21 116 44 9 6329923094−102 Tunisia did not compete From 1938 to 1964 and 1970 to 1993. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home :soil.
African Championship African ChampionshipYearRoundPosition 1974Champions1st 3 3 0 0 1976Champions1st 4 4 0 0 1979Champions1st 5 5 0 0 1981Third place3rd 3 2 10 1983Third place3rd 6 4 02 1985Runners-up2nd 5 3 02 1987Third place3rd 5 3 02 1989Third place3rd 5 3 02 1991Third place3rd 6 3 12 1992Runners-up2nd 5 3 11 1994Champions1st 6 6 00 1996Runners-up2nd 6 5 01 1998Champions1st 6 5 0 1 2000Third place3rd 6 3 1 2 2002Champions1st 5 5 0 0 2004Runners-up2nd 7 6 0 1 2006Champions1st 7 7 0 0 2008Runners-up2nd 5 4 0 1 2010Champions1st 8 8 0 0 2012Champions1st 8 8 0 0 2014Runners-up2nd 8 7 0 1 2016Runners-up2nd 8 7 0 1 2018Champions1st 7 6 1 0 2020Runners-up2nd 7 6 0 1 2022Fourth place4th 5 3 0 2 2024Third place3rd6501 2026Runners-up2nd 7 5 1 1TotalChampions27/27 159 129 624
African Games African GamesYearRoundPosition 1965Third place3rd 5212 1973Did not participate 1978Runners-up2nd 5401 1987Did not participate 1991 1995Withdrew 1999Did not participate 2003 2007Third place3rd 4202 2011Did not participate 2015 2019TotalRunners-up3/12 14 8 1 5
Mediterranean Games Mediterranean GamesYearRoundPosition 1967Third place3rd 3 1 0 2 1971Tournament canceled 1975Fourth place4th 4 1 0 3 1979Third place3rd 4 2 0 2 1983Fourth place4th 1987Did not participate 1991 1993 1997Eighth place8th 5 1 0 4 2001Runners-up2nd 5 4 0 1 2005Third place3rd 5 4 0 1 2009Third place3rd6402 2013Group stage7th5212 2018Runners-up2nd5401 2022Fifth Place5th5302TotalRunners-up11/14
Pan Arab Games Arab GamesYearRoundPosition 1961Did not participate 1965 1976 1985Champions1st 1992Third place3rd 1997Tournament canceled 1999Did not participate 2004Tournament canceled 2007Did not participate 2011Third place3rd TotalChampions3/10
Other records Other recordsYearRoundPosition1969 Maghreb Nations ChampionshipFinalChampions1971 Maghreb Nations ChampionshipFinalChampions1973 Maghreb Nations ChampionshipFinalChampions1998 Paris Ile-de-France tournamentSemi-finalThird place1999 Spain international tournamentSemi-finalThird place2002 Paris Ile-de-France tournamentSemi-finalThird place2002 Yellow CupFinalRunners-up2002 Spain international tournamentSemi-finalThird place2003 Yellow CupFinalRunners-up2004 Yellow CupFinalRunners-up2005 Paris Ile-de-France tournamentFinalChampions2006 World cupFinalRunners-up2007 Paris Ile-de-France tournamentSemi-finalThird place2007 Yellow CupFinalChampions2008 Challenge MarraneFinalChampions2008 Yellow CupSemi-finalThird place2010 Yellow CupSemi-finalThird place2012 Spain international tournamentSemi-finalThird place2013 Paris Ile-de-France tournamentSemi-finalThird place2015 Yellow CupFinalChampions2015 Tunisia international tournamentFinalChampions2015 Four Nations TournamentFinalRunners-up2016 Yellow CupFinalChampions2017 Tunisia international tournamentFinalChampions2019 Yellow CupFinalChampions2019 Air Caraïbes CupFinalRunners-up2020 Yellow CupFinalRunners-up2021 Tunisia international tournamentFinalChampions2021 Four Nations Cup PolandFinalChampions2022 Four Nations Cup PolandFinalChampions
Team Current squad Squad for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship.
Head coach: Mohamed Sghir
Head coaches PeriodHead CoachHonours1957–1962 Yves Boulogne1962 Michel Djulizibaric1962–1966 Mohamed Louahchy1966–1968 Constantin Popa & Haralambie Firan1968–1972 Haralambie Firan1973–1975 Ion Popescu 19741976–1979 Saïd Amara 19761979–1982 Hachemi Razgallah19791982–1983 Guennadi Antchenko 19811983–1985 Reiner Ganschow 1983 19851985–1987 Sayed Ayari 1987 19891987–1989 Moncef Hajjar1989–1990 Saïd Amara1990–1991 Lamjed Amroussi 19911991–1994 Hachemi Razgallah 19921994–1996 Sayed Ayari & Saïd Amara 1994 1996 19981996–1997 Saïd Amara1997 Brahim Agrebi1997–1998 Noureddine Ben Ameur1998–2003 Sayed Ayari & Saïd Amara 2000 20022003 Sayed Ayari2004 Zoran Živković 20042004–2008 Sead Hasanefendić 2006 20082008–2009 Zoran Živković2009 Sayed Ayari2009–2014 Alain Portes 2010 20122014–2015 Sead Hasanefendić 20142015–2016 Sylvain Nouet 20162016–2017 Hafedh Zouabi2017–2020 Toni Gerona 2018 20202020–2022 Sami Saïdi2022– Patrick Cazal 2024
Notable players Hamza Majed Makrem Missaoui Marouen Maggaiz Slim Zehani Makrem Jerou Mahmoud Gharbi Mohamed Messaoudi Mohamed Darmoul Marouan Chouiref Khaled Haj YoussefMosbah Sanaï Heykel Megannem Issam Tej Ali Madi Mohamed Madi Dhaker Seboui Sobhi Saïed Sobhi Sioud Wael Jallouz Tarak JallouzRamzi Majdoub Wassim Helal Wissem Hmam Ouissem Bousnina Amine Bannour Anouar Ayed Anouar Ben Abdallah Oussama Boughanmi Oualid Ben Amor Oussama JaziriOussama Hosni Jihed Jaballah Selim Hedoui Rafik Bacha Mahmoud Gharbi Jaleleddine Touati Aymen Hammed Aymen Toumi Kamel Alouini Youssef Benali
See also Tunisian Handball Federation Tunisia women's national handball team Tunisia men's national junior handball team Tunisia men's national youth handball team Tunisia women's national junior handball team Tunisia women's national youth handball team
Other handball codes Tunisia national beach handball team Tunisia women's national beach handball team
References
External links
IHF profile